|
 |
| |||
 | |||
|
| | |
ISLANDERS 2, BRUINS 1 [ Game stats ]
Luongo's NHL debut is great
The Bruins, who have been on a roll the last five weeks, found that out last night. They poured 44 shots on Islanders netminder Roberto Luongo, who was making his NHL debut, and scored exactly once.
The Islanders, a group of young no-name players who are laboring near the Eastern Conference basement, triumphed over the Bruins at the FleetCenter, 2-1. It was Boston's first loss in four games.
The Bruins had tons of chances but created no traffic in front of Luongo, making it a relatively easy night for the 20-year-old despite the shot totals. Boston's players, though frustrated at their lack of finish, tipped their caps to the kid.
''He stays deep in his net and he's in good position,'' said left wing Dave Andreychuk, who had a game-high nine shots on net. ''The first couple of periods, we really didn't get people in front of him. A goalie like that, if he sees it, he's so deep that if he gets a good look at it, he's going to stop it.''
Coach Pat Burns said his club made Luongo look good.
''He made it tough on us but we made it look tougher than it was,'' said Burns. ''I don't really think we got those golden opportunities. We shot at him but did we shoot at the right place? But he did play well, let's give him credit, too.''
The Islanders produced just 20 shots and scored on their first one when Jamie Heward did something that rarely happens - he beat defenseman Ray Bourque. Heward made a nice move to go inside on the Bruins' captain, then found Jorgen Jonsson chugging to the net. Jonsson beat goalie Byron Dafoe and the Islanders had a 1-0 lead at 1:31 of the opening period.
The Bruins pulled even at 6:02 of the second as a result of a nice individual effort by Jason Allison. Allison, who was positioned behind the net, had defenseman Mathieu Biron draped all over him. Allison skated left to right behind the net, with Biron still clinging to him, and one-handed a pass to Anson Carter in front. Carter, who had eight shots in the game, rapped it past Luongo for his sixth goal of the season and the 1-1 tie.
Many Bruins chances later, Boston's fruitlessness turned to frustration with 55 seconds left in the period when New York took the lead for good. With the teams skating four per side, the Islanders' mammoth defenseman, Zdeno Chara, scored his second goal of the season, taking advantage of a big mismatch. Chara, who is 6 feet 9 inches and 246 pounds, skated from left to right around the net with 5-8, 184-pound Samsonov trying to stop him. Then Chara reversed direction, heading back to the left behind the net and beat Dafoe with a backhanded wraparound at the left post at 19:05.
''It was a mismatch,'' said Burns. ''I think the defense was starting to read it, too, but they were trying to get Samsonov off so they could make a switch, but he kept on going back and back and back. Sammy, when he gets going like that, you almost need a large hook to pull him away from it. He's got a long reach, that Chara. He came around and caught Byron by surprise.''
Dafoe said he should've had it but was fooled a bit.
''I figured with his reach he would've tried to wrap it all the way around,'' said Dafoe. ''So, I gave him a little poke check and he put it on the inside [of his stick]. That's my fault, I should've had that. I probably should've gone down with the paddle on the ice and taken the whole bottom away. It's a bad time to give up a goal like that, going into the third period. It really deflated us. I expected him to go further around with it.''
After the first, the Bruins outshot the Islanders, 29-8.
''The last two periods, we threw everything we had at them,'' said Dafoe. ''Unfortunately, we only came up with one goal. I think we deserved better than what we got.''
This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on 11/29/99.
|
ometimes, the most lowly of teams can be the most dangerous.